papsrus

Vienna Philharmonic, Valery Gergiev conductor. Hayes Hall, Naples (Fla.) Wagner -- Prelude to Parsifal Wagner -- Good Friday Spell from Parsifal Tchaikovsky -- Manfred Symphony This concert was one of two featured during this first year of a three-year residency that the Vienna Philharmonic is doing in Naples; the residency consisting of a couple of concerts, some chamber performances, talks and sessions with student musicians over three or four days. I sat fourth row, dead center. The massive orchestra filled the entire stage, which extended pretty far back. The back wall was entirely covered with organ pipes, floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Cosy hall seats 1,470. The Vienna strings were drop-dead gorgeous in the Parsifal Prelude and Good Friday Spell. Full and entirely enveloping, precise and seamless, powerful and crystal clear all at once. A Ferrari. Hearing Vienna play Wagner -- wow. The Manfred Symphony is a bit of an odd piece, programmatic and kind of not easy to get hold of if you're not familiar. At least for me. I had only listened to it once a few months ago, deliberately choosing not to listen again prior to going to the concert. So rather than trying to follow along -- get with the program, so to speak -- I chose to just let the music wash over me in an uncritical kind of way. "Uncritical" is probably the wrong term; what I mean is my lack of familiarity with the piece kind of forced me, or allowed me to just try to be in the moment with it without "thinking" about the music. Without trying to connect any dots. Which all sounds simple enough but can be a little tricky sometimes for me, at least. Gergiev, wielding his toothpick for a baton, was a little more animated than I anticipated. I've seen him a couple of times in concert videos and I recall him being someone who doesn't use a lot of body language. And I suppose that was true tonight as well, but busy, expressive hands, pulling here, softening there, whirling in big circles as if cranking a giant wheel that steers the band. And the orchestra instantly responsive to his gestures. Something to behold, really. A couple of quick Vienna, walzty things for encores wrapped up the evening in a brisk two hours.

Fidelio -- Beethoven Sarasota Opera House Beethoven's only opera is a simple tale about a wife, disguised as a man, who infiltrates a dark, nasty prison to free her unjustly held husband. All ends in a joyous -- and loud -- celebration. This is clearly an opera where the orchestra and Beethoven are out front, and the orchestra sounded great -- full and confident in the music for such a modest crew, probably around 40 musicians. The pit is a resonant one. At least on this night. I also really, really enjoyed that each of the three acts was preceded by lengthy and quite beautiful preludes. Sung in German with recitative spliced in here and there, but in a way that kept things moving along, never lingering. (That's what recitative is supposed to do, right?) Somewhere near the end of the first act, with the orchestra building these beautiful layers of Beethoven that seemed to just climb and build and climb higher, four of the main characters were weaving these harmonies in and around each other in this seamless, magical way that was just really quite beautiful. This was the first time I think I've really "felt" an opera, to the point were I was somewhat moved emotionally at times. And it was the music, entirely. I think when I reflect on the evening, this was also a case where the whole was more than the sum of the parts -- this is a regional opera company after all, not The Met. The orchestra may have been a little loose in ensemble here and there, but the music itself elevated them in a visceral way. Some of the singers were noticeably stronger than others, as is typical. The stagecraft may have been a little quaint and the production (by "production" I mean just the way people moved around on stage) a little stilted at times. But taken as a whole, this was a pretty fine evening of music where pointing out the flaws would be missing the point. And while Fidelio may not be a "great" opera when stacked up against Wagner or Mozart or Verdi or whomever, it is without doubt a rich musical feast. It's Beethoven. I had a good time.

Isn't that the wonderful thing about live music, though? Aside from just the "live" aspect of the music surrounding you, a live performance can offer an altogether new avenue into music that may just not be there in a recording. I listened to John Luther Adams' "Become Ocean" the other day on the radio. It was a live performance recorded last fall by the LA Philharmonic. Now, this is a piece of music I could not imagine sitting and listening to in my living room more than once. But I couldn't help but think while listening that it would be overwhelming to experience live.

I think free programs are typical in the U.S. They're often used to promote upcoming events and are attractive for advertisers wanting to capture the high-end consumer, clearly. The "magazine" I get each time I attend our quaint little opera house is a thick guide to the entire season, printed on heavy-stock paper, full color throughout. It's akin to a full-sized, high-end magazine, really. --------------- Harpsichordist Mark Kroll has been performing around town here over the winter and I attended a concert of his at the Church of the Redeemer yesterday afternoon in a program of music by Francois Couperin, a French Baroque composer whom I knew nothing about going in. Kroll, who clearly has some chops, having served as the Boston Symphony Orchestra harpsichordist for some time, described Couperin in his pre-concert talk as the greatest composer of harpsichord music -- before allowing that of course Bach created greater music, but in his opinion Couperin created the best music for harpsichord. ... A distinction without a difference, perhaps, but point taken. And the music was incredible, me in the front pew on the aisle, groom's side. Perfect. I was literally the first one in the door and so got the prime seat. As a few more folks started to trickle in and Kroll was adjusting his seat and such prior to the concert, he advised the folks who were taking seats on the left (bride's side, so to speak) that the right side was going to be better musically. Yes. I think most folks like to sit on the left because want to see their keyboardist's hands. Not me. And catching snippets of conversation from folks sitting behind me prior to the concert, there were at least a few harpsichord aficionados in attendance -- one guy overheard to claim he had three of the instruments in his home; another described to his companion the technicalities of how a harpsichord string had kind of a double vibration that gave it its unique tone. Anyways, to the music. Incredible melodies, layered and repeated and layered again in a series of songs beginning with a somber C-minor "La Tenebreuse Allemande" and progressing quickly through more fanciful and happier fare, most of which were basically popular dance tunes of the time. Beautiful. Not being familiar with the composer, I sensed a kind of halting rubato thing going on at times, as if there were quarter rests in odd places that almost gave the music a halting, stop and go quality. But the variation in cadences were clearly complex and intended. (I was going to describe it as almost as if he was reading the music for the first time and was playing it in a sort of "feeling things out" kind of way, but that's not quite it.) It was as if one hand was staggering things at times while the other was continuing on in the normal flow of the music. A very subtle thing, really, but clearly there. I concluded this sort of halting, stop-and-go thing was due to the music being primarily a dance music and the rests were intentionally there to facilitate some fancy dancin' on the floor. And at other times the music flowed seamlessly and beautifully and the harpsichord sounded just so lively. Very impressive. And the audience, which filled about the front third of the pews, was as quiet as a church mouse. A very enjoyable concert. I'll have to investigate Copuerin.

Wagner -- "Orchestral Music From ..." Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic

Someone over at Talk Classical attended the same concert and had a very similar reaction to yours, Bev. Thought you might be interested.

Haydn, Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 Jaqueline Du Pre with the English Chamber Orchestra Damn fine.

Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca) When I first mentioned to my dad, maybe last year about this time, that I was getting into Bruckner (one of his Big Three) in kind of a big way via Celibidache, he simply looked at me wide-eyed, held up seven fingers and said, "It'll blow your mind." ... He pressed this into my hand last Saturday after I'd given him a mid-60s live recording of No. 7 by Kurt Masur and the Berliner Staatskapelle Orchestra. So we're passing Bruckners back and forth these days.

Speaking of Glyndebourne, dad tells me they've started to stream things, ala Berlin's Digital Concert Hall, not live but "produced." Archived stuff to come. I sense Rattle's hand in this, as he's something of a mentor to the current music director, Ticciati.

You're a brave man. That should be something indeed. Least they give you Wednesday and Friday off to gather yourself a bit. Looking back at past seasons in Dallas for Mozart, they put on Marriage of Figaro last season, Magic Flute in 11-12, Don Giovanni in 10-11, Cosi fan Tutte in 09-10. ... They seem to stage a lot of Verdi, too, which is certainly not unusual but interesting to me as Sarasota is winding up a complete Verdi cycle this season, begun in 1989. Maybe next season Dallas will give another opportunity for Mozart.

Mozart -- Cosi fan Tutte (Decca) Sir Colin Davis, Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Montserrat Caballe, Janet Baker, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Nicolai Gedda, Ileana Cotrubas, Richard van Allan In a moment of unabashed gluttony some time ago, I scooped up this complete Decca set. Not quite "complete," actually, judging by the rather enthusiastic first review at amazon. Missing three early operas written when WAM was a wee lad. Nonetheless, more music in one fell swoop than one can reasonably justify, so I won't try. Finally getting around to it. No libretto in this, just a booklet with the basics.

I'm relatively new to opera, having started attending just the last few years. It's fascinating to see (and hear) all the pieces of the puzzle come together. How many things have to go right all at once for them to pull the thing off. The biggest thing for me when I first started attending was adjusting to the time involved. You're there for 3 - 4 hours with one or two intermissions. Basically perhaps double the time and then some of an orchestral concert. So, investing in a good seat is important to me. And wearing something lose-fitting and comfortable. Don't eat a big meal or slam a few beers beforehand (seriously). And I'm not being flip. You sort of have to be mentally and physically prepared to sit for a 3 - 4 hours. If you're enjoying yourself and comfortable, no big deal. And while there's an element of theatre involve, it's foremost a musical experience. These are singers, not actors. While the stagings can be fantastical and elaborate, dreamlike and otherworldly, the dramatic gestures of the singers may seem like something out of a silent film, exaggerated or overdone. Or there may be very little "action" going on at all. More dramatic gestures and such. Course, that's just the way things are staged at my little opera house. You go to the Met and they have something like a dozen hydraulic devices and all kinds of theatrics flying around. Dallas Opera has a pretty good reputation, I think. Recall reading something about their artistic director a while back that was quite glowing.

I will look for that, thanks Bev. I was not familiar with Cosi before going, beyond doing a little background reading prior. The music is wonderful. The performance I attended last night was certainly a light-hearted affair, traditionally staged, and the audience had a good time. Enjoy your trip to Nottingham. We can compare notes afterward.

Cosi Fan Tutte (“Women are Like That”) Mozart Sarasota Opera House Romantic comedy: Two soldiers are engaged to a pair of sisters and everyone is head over heels. An older guy in the town bets the two young soldiers that their women will be unfaithful when pressed (women are like that). Soldiers eagerly take the bet, confident in the fidelity of their women. Long story short, the women cave in, but all is forgiven in the end. This is Mozart, after all. Wonderful music infused with all those Mozart melodic lines dancing all over the place. I have a copy of Cosi on hand here at home and am looking forward to giving it a spin later. I had a great seat in the front row of the balcony that afforded a clear view of both the stage and orchestra pit. And I’ve mentioned this before, but the balcony at the Sarasota Opera House extends quite far forward, so that the stage is pretty much right in front of you from the front row. The singing was mostly very good, although one of the soldiers’ voices was clearly stronger than the other as far as projection, and one of the women had a little issue with lower-end range in some spots; kind of went from soaring soprano to almost a talking voice in the lower notes. Maybe this isn’t all that uncommon, but the other female lead didn’t seem to have this issue. And with lots of duets flying around, this unevenness in vocals made things a bit tricky for the orchestra, I think. Or rather, a bit tricky for the listener. With the somewhat stronger voices, the orchestra tended to be a bit in the background. With the weaker voices the orchestra tended to be a little more prominent. Not a problem, necessarily. Just kind of hard to miss. I should add that it was opening night for this production, so I’m sure they were all working through things to some extent. But it was fascinating watching from my bird’s eye perch all the moving parts of the singers and the stage action, the conductor with his view of both the stage and the orchestra pit keeping everything together, and the opera house orchestra sounded great. It’s funny though, working in the orchestra pit is a whole different thing than an orchestra performing on stage. Given that in opera the orchestra is playing more or less continuously for much longer stretches than a concert orchestra does, but with lots more lulls in the music than you get in orchestral concerts, it’s not uncommon for players to get up in the middle of things, wander off into the back of the pit somewhere (for a ham sandwich, I don’t know), come back, sit down and grab the old violin and start sawing away, then someone else in the wind section gets up and disappears into the back when there's another quiet passage in the music, etc, etc. Lot of moving parts down there that you only get to really see from the forward balcony. A good night. Audience behaved, too. But again, I think my choice of seats has a lot to do with my listening enjoyment at these live gigs. Forward balcony = good at the opera house.

Rachmaninoff -- Piano Concerto No. 2 Bernd Glemser, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

A couple of reviews (Morning News, Observer, TheaterJones) echo your enthusiasm for Canellakis. From TheaterJones: "What she deserves is unqualified praise. But make no mistake; her performance, under very difficult circumstances, was not some stroke of luck. It was the earned reward for a lot of hard work." Her condensed bio reveals someone who has already cast a pretty wide net at what I assume is a fairly young age, conducting seemingly anywhere given the opportunity, in places as far-flung as Toledo, San Diego, Carnegie, Tanglewood and Lucerne. Rattle has apparently taken her under his wing to some degree, and she seems to have a particular affinity for conducting chamber orchestras/works, which you'd think would have served her well in the Mozart. (I know, it's you, not him.) If that wasn't enough, she's an accomplished violinist, having performed with Berlin and Chicago, among others. But you already know all that, I'd guess. ... Point being, she's all in. And clearly, having a thorough understanding of the Shostakovich No. 7, it's historical significance and how to navigate the piece, as well as an understanding of how Van Zweden rehearsed it, gave her all the tools she needed to step in with what seems to have been a performance well-deserving of universal praise. As David says, an interesting topic: what makes a great conductor/performance? Preparation, for one. Enthusiasm. Rapport with the orchestra. Deep immersion in the music with an understanding of where it comes from, how the interpretation has been rehearsed. It's amazing how many things have to go perfectly right for a performance to elevate. Sometimes the stars align.

Schubert Symphony No. 2 Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra

I hadn't heard van Zweden was going to the NYPO. That speaks volumes for his talents, no doubt. Loss for you, but lots of musical chairs going on these days with conductors, so hopefully you'll land someone who is "in play" who will inspire everyone. The whole process of finding a new musical director can be fascinating and at the very least, you'll get some guest conductors in who are basically there to audition, so wanting to make an impression. I'm going to have to check out Hannigan. Sounds like my kind of gal. In the FWIW / YMMV department, my own somewhat limited experience has taught be that if I sit somewhere between fourth row and about 7th or 8th row (close, but not so close that the music goes over my head), and as close to center as I can get, audience noise is pretty much a non-factor. I used to think sitting way up in the back was the best because everyone was facing away from me, but that turns out not to be the case. Fourth to seventh or eighth row center and I hear pretty much nothing but the orchestra. (I know as a subscriber you're probably locked into your seats this season, but in any event, if you get the opportunity in a one-off concert to sit pretty much front and center, give it a try.) ... But in the end it's kind of hit or miss. Sometimes audiences behave, sometimes they belch and fart.

Arensky -- Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky Suk -- Meditation on an Old Czech Carol Dvorak -- Notturno Kalinnikov -- Chanson Triste Glazunov -- Suite for String Quartet Purchased this after listening to Arensky's Variations performed last week by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The piece was written as a tribute to Tchaikovsky following his death, and are based on Tchaikovsky's "Legend: Christ in His Garden," from his Sixteen Children's Songs. It went through several incarnations, apparently -- first as a single movement for a string quartet, then re-scored for violin, viola and two cellos (!), then again for larger orchestra. Some really beautiful stings here. And happily, the rest of the disc follows largely in the same vein, with lush strings ebbing and flowing through melodies that alternate between longing/foreboding and carefree/fanciful. ... Touching. I was familiar with the Dvorak piece, but have only recently come around to Suk. The others, Kalinnikov and Glazunov, are new territory. And while it was Arensky who drew me in here, the whole sequence of music here is "of a piece."

Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 23 in A Major, 27 in B Flat Major Szell, Vienna Philharmonic

Beethoven Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' Celibidache, Munich Philharmonic

Jacqueline Du Pre -- Complete EMI Recordings Disc 17. The final disc in this set is comprised of piano-cello duets largely leaning toward the introspective / melancholy / downright tearful by Paradis, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Faure, Bach, Saint-Saens, Falla and Britten. Perfect accompanyment for the dour, drizzly day we're having here today. Touching.

Haydn -- Symphonies Nos. 103 "Drum Roll" and 104 "London" Celibidache, Munich Philharmonic Wish I would have had the opportunity to experience Celibidache in performance. These sets are the next best thing (although he would disagree). It's a wonderful thing his heirs did in getting these released. A treasure trove, for sure. I splurged on all four sets a while ago and have yet to be anything but thrilled by all of it. It's curious, since so much of what he performed in Munich was recorded, he must have known the recordings would eventually be released, despite his opposition / indifference. Or maybe that's it, he was just indifferent. ... Sort of the anti-Karajan, in that regard.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Haydn -- Symphony No. 1 in D Major; Mozart -- Piano Concerto No. 20; Khatia Buniatishvili, piano; Arensky -- Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky; Rachmaninoff -- Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos (arranged for orchestra) Great concert, excellent orchestra. Each of the four pieces required a different size and configuration for the orchestra. The concert taken as a whole was a little bit like a trip through time, beginning with Haydn and Mozart, then moving to Arensky (a student of Rimsky-Korsakov) and ending with Rachmaninoff. The Haydn symphony may not have actually been his first, the notes explained, because of the somewhat sketchy nature of the chronology of his early works. The symphony, more developed than a No.1 typically might be, was filled with wonderful counterpoint, a second movement for strings only that was just beautiful, and lovely soloing here and there along the way. A great piece beautifully performed. Khatia Buniatishvili was all in for the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, accompanied by a somewhat smaller gathering of the orchestra. Best way to describe her is a very sensual player. She was feeling it. I wondered beforehand how the whole thing would fit together with piano, and orchestra, and no conductor, but it all worked in this sort of organic natural way, with nods and smiles among the musicians, and Khatia doing her thing at the piano. They had a flow going on. The second part of the concert was fully uncharted territory, but the highlight of the evening for me was the Arensky piece, written as a tribute to Tchaikovsky just after he had passed away. The seven variations and coda are based on Tchaikovsky's song "Legend" No. 5 from "Sixteen Children's Songs." A bit of a complicated lineage there (and there's actually a string quartet arrangement along the way as well), but ... in the end, just a beautiful piece by a guy I'd sure never heard of (not that I would). I'm going to investigate Arensky further. The final Rachmaninoff was, as the title says, a piece for two pianos arranged for orchestra. Probably the least interesting for me -- all broad, sweeping bowing and grand gestures. I couldn't help hearing it as program music, as if it was a sound track to a Fantasia type of thing. Lovely enough, and beautifully played, just a bit of a step down from the other pieces that preceded it. The powers that be have outfitted the Van Geezer with a new band shell, and I believe it makes a noticeable difference. I sat fourth row, just off center to the left for the first part of the concert, about level with the stage. Excellent. For the second half of the concert I moved to an area where there were some seats open a few rows further back and further off to the side (I wanted more leg room), so I was a little higher up above stage level. Things sounded great from there, too. An excellent evening of music, for sure.

CPE Bach Magnificat Symphonie in D Major Heilig (for double choir) Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin; Berlin RIAS Chamber Choir; Elizabeth Watts (soprano); Wiebke Lehmkuhl (alto); Lothar Odinius (tenor); Markus Eiche (bass) The Magnificat is somewhat more ... spirited (?) ..., less contemplative than I anticipated, but beautifully rendered here. The symphony (his most well-known?) is snappy and lean. The double choir work, Heilig, was over all to quickly. I really enjoyed this disc. Leaves me wanting more. ...